Hurricane Katrina wreaks havoc on Gulf Coast area
GULFPORT, Miss. — Gulf Coast residents staggered from the body-blow inflicted by Hurricane Katrina, with more than a million people sweltering without power, miles of lowlands swamped and at least 55 dead — a number likely to increase as rescuers reach the hardest-hit areas.
Even with Katrina to the north, a large section of the vital 17th Street Canal levee gave way Monday afternoon in New Orleans, sending a churning sea of water coursing across the western part of the city.
Residents who had ridden out the brunt of Katrina now faced a second more insidious threat as flood waters continued their ascent well into the night.
Across the Gulf Coast, people were rescued in boats as they clung to rooftops, hundreds of trees were uprooted and sailboats were flung about like toys when Katrina crashed ashore Monday in what could become the most expensive storm in U.S. history.
The federal government began rushing baby formula, communications equipment, generators, water and ice into hard-hit areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, along with doctors, nurses and first aid supplies.
The Pentagon sent experts to help with search-and-rescue operations.
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